Visionary and helpful analysis on the NiMH battery development

1. Performance characteristics and industrial chain of NIMH battery
   1. NIMH battery have obvious advantages and disadvantages
   2. China’s NIMH battery industry chain is complete and mature
2. Application field and development direction of NIMH battery
   1. The development of hybrid vehicles and vehicle-mounted T-box
   2. Small NIMH battery market is stable
3. The industrial chain of NIMH battery
4. Market growth potential for NIMH battery

At present, the development direction of China’s nickel-metal hydride (NIMH) battery industry is from the main production of small and retail nickel-hydrogen batteries to the large-scale production of large-scale, power batteries and small batteries at the same time.

The raw materials required for its production are highly localized, and the upstream and downstream facilities are complete. Its upstream is mainly metal raw material suppliers and battery materials suppliers.

Midstream is responsible for the manufacture of various NIMH battery for battery manufacturers. Here is a top 10 NIMH battery suppliers in China to help know which manufacturers are. The downstream is all kinds of electronic products that need to be assembled with batteries.

The nickel-metal hydride battery industry chain is mature and complete, the industry covers a large group, and the market space and output value are large enough.

From the perspective of the traditional retail and consumer electronics markets, the growth is relatively flat, and the companies that enter the power battery and T-BOX power supply battery will enter the market in the next ten years. With the development of new energy vehicles, there will be sufficient room for development within this year.

Performance characteristics and industrial chain of NIMH battery

NIMH battery have obvious advantages and disadvantages

NIMH battery is a new type of green battery developed in the 1990s. It has the characteristics of high energy, long life, and no pollution. 

NiMH battery is a new product developed on the basis of nickel-cadmium battery. It is environmentally friendly and has a very high recycling value. It is the most environmentally friendly battery on the market. With nickel hydroxide as the positive electrode and high-energy hydrogen storage alloy as the negative electrode, it has greater energy than the previous generation of nickel cadmium battery.

Generally speaking, NIMH battery have the advantages of good safety, good consistency, excellent high and low temperature performance, good environmental friendliness, and high recyclable value. In addition to safety, price, and high temperature performance, lithium batteries are superior to NIMH battery.

For example, lithium batteries cannot continue to work in extreme environments, while nickel-metal hydride batteries can. Therefore, in aerospace, precision instruments, and other fields where batteries are durable and stable, a particularly important breakthrough has been made in lithium batteries. And in the short term, NIMH battery still will not be completely replaced.

China’s NIMH battery industry chain is complete and mature

In 2006, China’s output of nickel-metal hydride batteries exceeded 1.3 billion, replacing Japan as the world’s largest producer. So far, the annual production capacity is about 5.5 billion.

At present, the production of NIMH battery in the world is mainly concentrated in China and Japan. China mainly produces small NIMH battery, while Japan mainly produces large-scale NIMH battery.

At present, the raw materials required for the production of nickel-metal hydride batteries in China are highly localized, and the upstream and downstream supporting facilities are complete. Its upstream is mainly suppliers of metal raw materials and battery materials, mainly supplying raw materials such as nickel, manganese, cobalt, and rare earth metals, as well as processed nickel foam and hydrogen storage alloys.

The midstream is responsible for the manufacture of various nickel-metal hydride batteries for battery manufacturers, while the downstream is for various electronic products that require battery assembly.

From the perspective of upstream raw material supply, nickel-metal hydride batteries contain a lot of metal hydrides, of which nickel accounts for 55%, rare earth accounts for 32.2%, and others are cobalt, manganese and aluminum RMB.

In the rare earth RMB element, lanthanum accounts for 20.2%, cerium accounts for 8%, neodymium accounts for 3%, and praseodymium accounts for 1%. exporting country, which gives China an advantage in manufacturing nickel metal hydride batteries. China’s major rare earth groups not only have a relative monopoly on rare earth resources, but also have a relative monopoly on related production and processing technologies.

As the price of rare earths increases year by year, the difficulty and cost of obtaining raw materials in China will be much lower than those in Japan. This makes the development of nickel metal hydride batteries in China Costs will not vary much.

The middle reaches are nickel-metal hydride battery manufacturers, which have relatively high technical barriers, but China has achieved breakthroughs in various technologies. However, the world’s small nickel-metal hydride battery market is approaching saturation, and manufacturers are developing towards a more intensive direction.

However, due to the frequent mergers, integrations and reorganizations in the industry due to cost increases, the survival of the fittest and the concentration continue to increase.

Products are also developing in the direction of more convenience, differentiation, and cost performance. Due to problems such as low support for hybrid vehicles suitable for nickel-hydrogen batteries in the Chinese market, most manufacturers produce small nickel-metal hydride batteries.

According to data, 85% of the world’s nickel-metal hydride power batteries are produced in Japan, but China’s relevant leading companies have realized the layout of the entire industrial chain of nickel-hydrogen batteries and nickel foam raw materials, forming a complete industrial chain.

Application field and development direction of NIMH battery

At present, nickel-metal hydride batteries are mainly used in two parts of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and consumer electrical products in the civilian field.

The development of hybrid vehicles and vehicle-mounted T-box

A hybrid vehicle refers to a vehicle that is equipped with two power sources at the same time – a thermal power source (generated by a traditional internal combustion engine) and an electric power source (battery or other energy storage devices, etc.).

By using the thermal power source and the electric power source in hybrid vehicles, the power system of the vehicle can be optimized and controlled according to the actual operating conditions of the vehicle to ensure that the engine works in the area with the best overall performance. NIMH battery occupy about 90% of the market in this area due to their low cost and early start of research.

Most of the working modes of hybrid vehicles generate power for battery discharge, while the engine is more responsible for charging the battery, so that the battery power consumption is always maintained at about 40%.

Although in the long run, pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles are the ultimate solution for zero emissions. However, in the medium term, hydrogen fuel cells are limited by the construction of multiple links of hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, and hydrogen transportation. But there are still some manufacturers who are specialized in this industry. An article on hydrogen fuel cell manufacturers will be useful.

Problems such as charging time and charging time cannot be solved for a long time. Hybrid vehicles may be the preferred solution to achieve energy saving and emission reduction while taking into account technological development and economic benefits.

At present, more than 85% of NIMH battery in the world are produced in Japan every year. The patent competition pattern of power NIMH battery in the world is dominated by China, Japan and the United States, accounting for 32.68%, 28.45% and 16.05% respectively.

Small NIMH battery market is stable

NIMH battery have been widely used in professional electronic equipment, lighting, cordless home appliances, portable printers, mobile digital products, telecommunication equipment, laser instruments, and electric toys and consumer electronics.

These products originally used nickel-cadmium batteries. Before 2012, the main tone of the market was the elimination of nickel-cadmium batteries in the low-end market. Around 2014, lithium batteries also entered the market due to cost reductions and began to squeeze the market space for nickel-hydrogen batteries.

According to the statistical data in 2013, non-power battery NIMH battery accounted for a relatively large market share in retail, cordless phones, vacuum cleaners and personal care equipment.

The industrial chain of NIMH battery

The NIMH battery industry chain is mature and complete. Its industry covers a large group, and its market space and output value are large enough. From the perspective of traditional retail and consumer electronics markets, the growth rate is relatively flat.

Companies that enter the power battery and T-BOX power supply battery will continue to grow in the future. With the development of new energy vehicles, there will be sufficient room for development within ten years. There are mainly the following companies: Minmetals Capital, Corun, Antai Technology, Saide Battery, Changhong Huayi, etc.

Market growth potential for NIMH battery

The main market growth space for nickel-metal hydride batteries in the future comes from two aspects: first, the power batteries used in hybrid vehicles will develop with the development of new energy vehicles.

The market gap is small, the trend is the same, and self-sufficiency can basically be achieved. The expansion of the Chinese market space will help Chinese battery manufacturers to tilt their development focus towards power batteries.

Experts predict that by 2025, the Chinese hybrid vehicle market will reach 2.28 million units per year, with an average annual growth rate of 30%. By 2035, the sales volume of hybrid vehicles may exceed 20 million units per year.

Assuming that each hybrid nickel-metal hydride battery can reach 10,000 RMB/vehicle, then according to forecasts, the annual market space can exceed 10 billion from 2022, reach 20 billion by 2025, and reach 200 billion by 2030.

Second, with the vigorous promotion of the intelligent networked automobile industry policy and the commercialization of 5G communication networks, China’s intelligent networked automobile industry is facing huge market opportunities. T-Box will further integrate the advanced features of 5G, and its functions will be more powerful. Its penetration rate and market size will also increase significantly.

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